This is a story about how bottles of drinks connected people who were stranded in Ireland back in 1971.
Back then, Bill Backer, the creative director on the Coca-Cola account for McCann-Erickson, was traveling to London to join two other songwriters, Billy Davis and Roger Cook, to write and arrange several radio commercials for The Coca-Cola Company that would be recorded by the popular singing group the New Seekers. Due to bad weather conditions, the plane was forced to land at Shannon Airport, Ireland. The irate passengers were obliged to share rooms at the one hotel available in Shannon or to sleep at the airport. Obviously nobody was happy.
The next morning, as the passengers gathered in the airport coffee shop, Backer noticed that several who had been among the most irate were now laughing and sharing stories over bottles of Coke.
In that moment, people began to see a bottle of Coca Cola as more than a drink. Having a Coke was like saying, "let's keep each other company for a little while."
And that's exactly what happened there. Coca Cola was not just a soft drink. Indeed it became a common topic of interest among people. It helped keep people together for a little longer.
In November 1971, when the television ad was released in United States, more than a hundred thousand letters about the ad poured into Coca Cola. People even demanded the song from the TV commercial to be played on radio stations.
That TV commercial remains one of the all time favourites in the US history. It's about bringing people together. It's about uniting the world together. It's about living in harmony and love with each other.
I'd like to buy the world a home and furnish it with love,
Grow apple trees and honey bees, and snow white turtle doves.
I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony,
I'd like to buy the world a Coke and keep it company.
(Repeat the last two lines, and in the background)
It's the real thing, Coke is what the world wants today.
Grow apple trees and honey bees, and snow white turtle doves.
I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony,
I'd like to buy the world a Coke and keep it company.
(Repeat the last two lines, and in the background)
It's the real thing, Coke is what the world wants today.
